Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“Bullet” is a woman of action and she says too many fighters have it backward.
Valentina Shevchenko defines her career by the adage, “actions speak louder than words.”
Last year, “Bullet” told media that she is uninterested in setting goals for her championship reign. She elaborated on those comments this week, telling MMA Mania during a conference call that she would rather internalize her aspirations.
“When people are describing their goals, they’re like, ‘Oh I want to be the best, I want to be this, I want to be that.’ These are simple things that everybody wants, but very few reach them,” Shevchenko explained. “When you keep these goals inside of you, it’s accumulating energy inside of you. Before you get your goals, you cannot just express out loud for everyone.
“I see so many people who are speaking too much, but when it’s time to make action they are doing wrong,” she continued. “They are doing wrong. Why? Because they were thinking ‘speak first’ and ‘do second.’ What my mindset is ‘do first, speak later.’ This is, I think, the most important.”
The UFC women’s flyweight champion also touched on what she wants her legacy to be.
“I don’t know how I want people to remember me. It’s not about this. It’s about what I can bring right now. Right now, I’m trying to bring myself to the forefront and to show my martial arts,” she shared. “To show my lifestyle. That you can travel, you can train and do everything. And at the same time enjoy life. Even when you are in a hard training camp you can go and explore new places and new cities. Meet new people. I try to show my personality. I don’t know how I want to be remembered because I live my life right now.”
Shevchenko (18-3) defends her women’s Flyweight title against Kaitlyn Chookagian (13-2) at UFC 247 this weekend (Sat., Feb. 8, 2020) inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) event is headlined by UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Dominick Reyes.